News

Portland Business News

Trader Joe's will open another Portland metro store
Author: Jonathan Bach
Trader Joe's is opening another Portland-area store, this time in unincorporated Clackamas County.

The Chronicle - Centralia

Lewis County commissioners appoint new members to Veterans Advisory Board

Anthony Rogers has been appointed as the newest member of the Lewis County Veterans Advisory Board.

During Tuesday’s Lewis County Board of County Commissioners meeting, Board Chair Ken Norwood described Rogers as an active member of the Army National Guard, a volunteer firefighter and an active volunteer throughout Lewis County.

“And he is our number one pick to be on the board as an actual voting member,” Norwood said.

During the meeting four other applicants — Patrick Swanson, Candace Johnson, Tina Koehn and Tabitha Hopp — were selected as alternates to the board.

Johnson is a U.S. Army veteran and a graduate of WF West High School. Swanson is a former board member of the Veterans Memorial Museum. Koehn works for Discovery Hope and Recovery, which Norwood said would be a valuable addition to the board. Hopp is a retired Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 in the United States Army.

“I must apologize to the commissioners because all of our board members, which are prospective, are all Army. There’s not a single Marine in the bunch, nor are there any sailors,” Norwood said.

“We’ll endeavor to mix that up and do better in the future,” Commissioner Scott Brummer said. 

The commissioners unanimously adopted the appointments.

“I want to say, personally, thank you, everyone of you who is stepping up to serve on the Veterans Advisory Board. It’s a vital role for our community and the veterans who have served our country,” Brummer said. “And so thank you so much for the time that you’re going to invest and the work and effort that you’re going to put in helping our board be successful and our veterans be successful. It is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your service, not only to our great nation, but to this county, and this community and our veterans.”

The appointments are effective April 1 and will run through March 31, 2026.

Sen. John Braun: After making natural gas cost more, Democrats move toward banning it

In 2021, there was a three-way tie for the title of “worst bill” passed by majority Democrats. Their new cap-and-trade climate law, new tax on income from capital gains and new limits on law enforcement pursuits each took Washington in the wrong direction.

Not this year. The worst bill passed during the 2024 legislative session is clearly House Bill 1589, which sets the stage for a ban on natural gas in our state.

You won’t see the word “ban.” Instead, HB 1589 carries the very aspirational title of “supporting Washington's clean energy economy and transitioning to a clean, affordable and reliable energy future.”

But make no mistake, HB 1589 is specially designed to enable Puget Sound Energy to transition out of the natural-gas business. As that plays out, homeowners will be forced to retool their homes and replace gas appliances with electric versions, at their expense.

These conversions could cost $70,000-plus per home, depending on how many appliances, cabinets, countertops and so on need replacing. Now multiply that by PSE’s 900,000-plus natural-gas customers in Snohomish, King, Kittitas, Pierce, Thurston and Lewis counties.

This is a case of one bad policy leading to another. If not for the cap-and-trade law passed three years ago — which would be more accurately called “cap-and-tax” — PSE would have had no need to ask for what amounts to a custom-made exit strategy.

Republicans understand businesses are always looking for ways to control their costs, and therefore their customers’ costs. The Legislature has sometimes helped — by adjusting tax rates, for example — but HB 1589 is just wrong.

It is nothing like the bipartisan aerospace-friendly policies approved in 2013. They were designed to help a homegrown industry and cornerstone of Washington’s economy be more competitive in a global marketplace, supporting countless high-paying jobs at the same time.

Instead, HB 1589 represents a partisan alliance with a utility that has a monopoly in many Washington counties. It flips the whole concept of state utility regulation away from protecting customers and toward advancing the majority Democrats’ climate ideology.

This is just the latest example of the damage caused by the cap-and-trade program launched through the “Climate Commitment Act” three years ago.

We first saw the fallout at the gas pump, after the cap-and-trade approach took full effect in early 2023. Because the law effectively functions as a 50-cent gas tax, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded here has since remained at least third-highest in the nation. Washington gas costs noticeably more than in Oregon, substantially more than in Idaho, and about 85 cents above the national average.

While it made sense that cap-and-trade would also affect natural-gas prices, that has been harder to expose.

To its credit, PSE wanted to add a line to billing statements so customers could see how much they pay due to the Climate Commitment Act. The state Utilities and Transportation Commission — a three-person commission appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee — said no, on the advice of Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office. The absurd argument was that such transparency would be confusing.

Fortunately, while legislators were in session earlier this year, the effect of cap-and-trade on natural gas prices came into full view thanks to an Oregon-based natural gas supplier that reaches into Southwest Washington. Some of its customers shared their billing statements with us, shocked at the increase they were seeing and wanting to know why.

That’s how we learned, for instance, that the natural gas bill for one of the region’s high schools from mid-December to mid-January totaled $10,421, of which a whopping $2,282 was itemized as “WA Climate Act Fee.”

Take that level of inflation, then multiply it by all the school buildings and other public buildings in Washington that use natural gas. You could drive an electric car and fully power it and your home with solar, yet still get stuck paying for the cap-and-trade law through property and other taxes.

The residential conversion costs alone, which PSE admits will fall between $7.3 billion and $20 billion, give Gov. Inslee many billions of reasons to veto HB 1589. But there are more: Up to 40% of PSE customers are already having trouble paying their bills. It will make housing more expensive to buy and rent, when there’s already a shortage of affordable housing. Other natural-gas suppliers may ask for the same sweet deal PSE got. Then there’s the Republican view that the bill is unconstitutional.

The trouble is, Inslee doesn’t care. His crusade against fossil fuels comes first. It’s no wonder the Legislature’s Democrat leaders didn’t let the Senate and House of Representatives vote on Initiative 2117, to repeal the cap-and-trade law. Without cap-and-trade, there would have been no reason to pass HB 1589.

With the PSE bill, Democrats get to squeeze the natural gas market from both sides. While cap-and-trade drives up the cost, to discourage demand, HB 1589 will reduce the supply. Harder to afford meets harder to obtain.

As a final injustice, Democrats included the so-called “emergency clause” language in HB 1589. It means a signature from Inslee puts the new law into effect immediately. It also, as every legislator knows, prevents the people from using their constitutional power to force a public vote in November on the law. That is absolutely wrong.

When the bill came to the floor of the Senate chamber Feb. 29, Republicans pointed out how sloppily the policy was written. The lieutenant governor, in his role as the Senate’s presiding officer, agreed. He called HB 1589 a “hot mess.”

That hot mess is about to become a law that hurts families. Legislators should have done better.

 

Sen. John Braun of Centralia serves the 20th Legislative District, which spans parts of four counties from Yelm to Vancouver. He became Senate Republican leader in 2020.

 

NYT Politics

U.S. to Present Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution at U.N. Security Council
Author: Michael Crowley and Thomas Fuller
A resolution for the U.N. that American diplomats are circulating was notable for its strong language in seeking a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
Tennessee Makes A.I. an Outlaw to Protect Its Country Music and More
Author: Emily Cochrane
Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday signed a first-in-the-nation bill to prevent the use of artificial intelligence to copy a performer’s “voice.”

Columbian Newspaper

March Madness taking over Spokane with both men’s and women’s NCAA tourneys in town
Author: TIM BOOTH, AP Sports Writer

SPOKANE — Twelve teams. Nine games. Four days.

Read more...

Oregon’s Couisnard drops 40 points on old school in 87-73 win over South Carolina
Author: TOM WITHERS, AP Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH — Jermaine Couisnard swears it wasn’t personal and he wasn’t seeking revenge against South Carolina.

Read more...

Medicare can pay for obesity drugs like Wegovy in certain heart patients
Author: JONEL ALECCIA, Associated Press

Medicare can pay for the popular weight-loss drug Wegovy — as long as the patients using it also have heart disease and need to reduce the risk of future heart attacks, strokes and other serious problems, federal officials said Thursday.

Read more...

The first woman to run for president in years in Senegal is inspiring hope
Author: BABACAR DIONE and JESSICA DONATI, Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal’s only female presidential candidate may have little to no chance of winning in Sunday’s election, but activists say her presence is helping to advance a decadeslong campaign to achieve gender equality in the West African nation.

Read more...

Long ordeal of disabled, abandoned kids in Haiti orphanage ends: They’re in Jamaica
Author: Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald

The mission of mercy began almost a year ago: Relocate dozens of abandoned, disabled children to safety in Jamaica from ravaging gang violence in Haiti. Some of them had died when blocked roads and armed threats kept them from getting medical care.

Read more...

Pages